Nicole Finn “cared a lot about animals, but she did not care a lot about the children in her care,” a West Des Moines police detective told a Polk County jury Thursday.

Chris Morgan said he made that conclusion after conducting an investigation that included reading texts the 43-year-old mother sent to her ex-husband and others after she was accused of fatally starving her daughter Natalie and trying to starve daughter Mikayla and son Jaden.

In some texts, the pet-rescue operator lamented how people abandoned pets that were dehydrated and in desperately in need of food.

But in other expletive-filled rants to her ex-husband, Joseph Finn, Nicole Finn said she hated her children, accusing them of persecuting her in front of others and claiming they had “all the power.” She said she didn’t want to do anything for them anymore.

“They are worthless,” the mother of five wrote in a March 2, 2016, text. "I can’t stand them. … I’m so done with this s---."

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An image of Natalie Finn is shown as evidence during Nicole Finn's trial for murder, kidnapping and child endangerment on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017, at the Polk County Courthouse. (Photo: Kelsey Kremer/The Register)

The man who investigated 16-year-old Natalie’s homicide laid out a host of contradictory statements he said Nicole Finn made between the night Natalie died and a five-hour interview conducted seven days later.

Nicole has pleaded not guilty to murder and kidnapping charges.

Morgan said Nicole Finn avoided his calls and texts for days before agreeing to be interviewed. When she finally arrived for questioning, she wore jeans and a gray sweatshirt and smelled of cat urine.

The detective said the mother told him Oct. 24 that her adopted daughter Natalie, 16, would sometimes refuse to eat food and then gorge herself at other times.

During the investigation, however, Nicole denied there was ever a time Natalie ate too much food, the detective said.

The night of Oct. 24, Nicole said Natalie had been feeling horrible and hadn't gotten upright for days.

But during the interview, she said she had no concern Natalie needed medical treatment.

The night Natalie died, Nicole Finn said Natalie hadn’t been up and walking for roughly five days, Morgan testified.

Later, she said, Natalie had been up walking but bracing herself against a wall.

A photo entered into evidence that was taken by West Des Moines Detective Chris Morgan of the room Nicole Finn allegedly kept three children in is seen during court proceedings on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017, in Des Moines. Finn is on trial for child endangerment, kidnapping and murder of her adopted daughter Natalie Finn in 2016.(Photo: Brian Powers/Staff Photo)

Nicole told Morgan the night of the teen's death that the only thing Natalie ate that day was a peanut butter shake that she fed to her.

Later, she claimed the emaciated teen had eaten a sandwich and chips.

Morgan discovered she’d fed the emaciated girl the shake in a used ketchup bottle.

Photos taken from Nicole’s laptop showed that she’d been propping a laundry basket tied to her children's door handle with a pillowcase for four years.